For some, Q4 may be the most challenging quarter of the year. From the last push before annual review to the last effort of designing holiday marketing strategies, business operations in Q4 are usually far from being hassle-free. And this year, as a lot of businesses are trying to recover, there’s anxiety on how the annual performance may end up eventually. But with the right sets of action, business managers can turn things around and ace the annual review with Q4 being the best quarter of the year.

With that said, here are things that businesses can do to wrap up Q4 with flying colors.

Plan for the Holiday Season

No, we mean it. Do plan for this year’s holiday season. With the Indonesian government reducing the number of collective leave, customers might end up spending more time online. To remind you of the context we had in 2020, e-commerce was booming. Case in point, Lazada “made $100 million of sales within the first hour of a shopping event”, according to CNBC. Now that the pandemic isn’t over, 2021 may echo the online traffic from the year earlier. In Q4, businesses will need to prepare themselves to welcome the holiday season as their customers do.

Revamp your digital marketing strategies

It’s no secret that a lot of today’s digital marketing devices are crafted to be as personal as possible. In other words, marketers think of whom they’re talking to. But a frequently overlooked aspect of digital marketing is the when. If who we are is shaped by the context we live in, then who your customers are will also be influenced by the upcoming season. It’s time to adjust your digital marketing strategies to Q4 demands and contexts. We’re talking about SEOs, blog posts, website appearance, and social media posts, among many other marketing aspects for Q4.

Raise Awareness

Speaking of strategizing your digital marketing, it’s also important to raise awareness for your brand, especially if you have only started a business project or simply wish to reach out to new market segments. Making a checklist of things to do for raising awareness might be a good idea you can try. This is especially true for B2B businesses, where your image will be judged by other institutions (which, in this case, are your prospective clients). Gathering insights from big data can be a good start for planning a campaign for your brand awareness.

Build Relationships

The pandemic has taught us a lot of things, one of which is the importance of connections. As many businesses experience major setbacks, it’s unusual for several institutions to lose connections with existing partners and form partnerships with new ones. To perform well in Q4, it’s almost impossible to work alone. This is why businesses must either mend lost business relations or find great businesses to work with. What’s important is to work with reliable partners which can support your business operations over the last few months of 2021.

Prepare for 2022 opportunities

This goes without saying, as the end of year means the beginning of another one. As you execute your Q4 2021 plans, don’t forget to prepare for what’s coming up next. Some forecasts can give you ideas to get ready for 2022. For instance, digitalization will definitely accelerate further. Forrester, for instance, found that 8 out of 10 customers will perceive everything as “all-digital”. Investors.com predict that 40% of large-scale institutions will shift their IT expenditure to as-a-service (CPaaS, SaaS, IaaS, PaaS) investments. Forecasts like these can help you make the right plans for the year to come.